Regenerative tourism needs diverse economic practices

TLDR

COVID‑19 has intensified calls for a new tourism‑capitalism relationship, exposing uneven vulnerabilities and prompting critics to blame capitalism’s profit‑driven focus for the lack of diverse economic practices that could foster resilient, regenerative communities. The study proposes a diverse economies framework that envisions coexistence of capitalist, alternative capitalist, and non‑capitalist practices to guide tourism toward regenerative, resilient practices worldwide after COVID‑19. The framework is illustrated through tourism industry case studies that showcase the innovation and natural resilience of diverse economic practices such as enterprise, exchange, labour, transactions, and property.

Abstract

Calls for a new relationship between tourism and capitalism have intensified as a result of COVID-19. The pandemic has exposed massive vulnerabilities in the tourism operating system, the effects of which have fallen unevenly across different groups and subsectors of tourism. Critics have been quick to point out capitalism's emphasis on resource exploitation, growth and profit is to blame and that tourism destinations have never been encouraged to foster diverse economic practices which would enhance resilient communities and regenerative tourism. The diverse economies framework envisages the co-existence of capitalist, alternative capitalist and non-capitalist practices and provides a pathway to more resilient and regenerative tourism practices in tourism. Tourism industry cases are used to illustrate the innovation inherent in diverse economic practices (enterprise, exchange, labour, transactions, property etc.) and illustrate their natural resilience as a result. Post COVID-19, a regenerative tourism that incorporates diverse economic practices will guide tourism practices worldwide to withstand future exigencies.